The enigmatic singer is back with a new album.soil, and tells us about embracing sex, and why his Brandy doll is full of life…

Words Owen Myers

Sonic sorcerer serpentwithfeet prowls across the stage with fearsome purpose. On a mild night in April, the Baltimore-born musician — real name Josiah Wise — is bringing his queer, gospel-influenced R&B to London’s Village Underground. He wears a flowing tunic top, slashed to expose his glittering torso; his neatly-cropped beard is also flecked with iridescent sparkles. Tonight’s set flickers from yearning, piano-led ballads, to epic-feeling anthems driven by intense bass that forms a knot in your belly. He’s playing to nearly a thousand people, but Josiah’s mesmerising onstage presence makes the cavernous venue feel as sacred as a cathedral’s crypt.

serpentwithfeet

Photography Francisco Gomez

Towards the end of his set, Josiah pauses to introduce a special guest. It turns out that it’s a 12in plastic friend, “Brandy Doll”, named after the iconic R&B singer.

Brandy nestles happily in his jeans pocket as Josiah performs his touching, devotional Bless Ur Heart on which his quivering vocals soar, asking, “Will my psalms seek the company of lonely breaths?/will they inspire subtle lovers to kiss with mouths they don’t have yet?” This evening’s congregation skews LGBT+, including a gang of androgynous creatures with faces painted like Pete Burns circa You Spin Me Round. As the lights come up, a young woman tearily proffers a Kleenex pack to fellow fans reeling from serpentwithfeet’s secular communion.